NAVWAT - Future High Precision Navigation System for Inland Waterways

In NAVWAT, a system concept was developed which aims at supporting the ship crew of inland water vessels when navigating through narrow surroundings (in the vicinity of locks, bridges, harbours). The proposed concept utilizes modern GNSS and augmentation infrastructure to provide accurate position and velocity information as well as integrity information to the ship crew. This precise position information should be related to the information contained in the onboard Inland ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart).

Short Description

The goal of the application is to provide accurate distance information between vessel hull and close riverside infrastructure in real-time. Based on this concept, the expected GNSS performance requirements have been determined, taking into account the identified user requirements.

The identification of user requirements and based on that the identifications of suitable application scenarios were the first steps carried out within this project. The aim was to identify applications that require high accurate positioning services and provide operational benefit (in terms of an improvement of safety and/or efficiency) to users on inland waterways.

As a result, three application scenarios have been identified that have a special need for highly accurate positioning information from satellites and aim at improving the safety and efficiency on inland waterways. The information shall support the ship crew in assessing the actual navigation situation correctly and hence reducing the risk of collisions with infrastructure. In addition, these applications shall increase efficiency as the provided information assists the vessel master to make decisions more quickly and at a higher level of quality.

The information has to be provided to the ship crew in real-time in a suitable (graphical) way in order to maximise the benefit of such a system. An additional feature is the innovative approach to a semi-automated accurate modelling of the vessel/convoy shape. The system shall be integrated into existing inland navigation technologies such as Inland AIS and Inland ECDIS.

Project Partners

Coordinator

via donau, Österreichische, Wasserstraßen-Gesellschaft mbH - Christoph Amlacher

Partners

TeleConsult Austria GmbH - Klaus Aichhorn

Contact Address

via donau - ÖsterreichischeWasserstraßen-Gesellschaft mbH
Christoph Amlacher
Donau-City-Straße 1
A-1220 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (504) 321 1608
E-mail: christoph.amlacher@via-donau.org
Web: www.via-donau.org